Romulo Lopez Cordero

Obama named on FARC laptop | FP Passport

Link: Obama named on FARC laptop | FP Passport.

Finally people in the US is starting to pay attention to point #6 of the letter.  Foreign policy magazine Blog Passport, talks about wishful thinking on the FARCS part.  My point in my previous post regarding this issue, is that point #6 talks about the US embassy in Ecuador's alleged efforts to contact FARC.  My question remains open then, why the US Embassy in Ecuador tried to contact FARC?

PODCAST: One-on-One Interview with Marcela Prieto, ICP Colombia

In June 2007, Marcela Prieto, the executive director for the Instituto de Ciencia Politica (ICP, Colombia) and editor of Perspectiva magazine, paid a visit to Atlas during her trip to Washington, D.C., where she met with government and think tank leaders to discuss U.S.-Colombian relations.  Atlas’s Romulo Lopez had the opportunity to sit down with Marcela to discuss the free trade agreement between Colombia and the U.S. that is currently being debated in Congress, as well as to learn about how ICP has been involved.   

Marcela is pictured here with Atlas’s Romulo Lopez.

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One on one interview with Marcela Prieto download here

For a copy of the text check out the latest Atlas Highlights (Summer 2007).

Some music for Chavez (some soothing music for my Venezuelan Friends)

Cuban artists granted asylum

This is an interesting story, 50 cuban artists left wife, families to escape one of the last socialist paradises on earth. And Cuban leaders say that nobody would like to leave the communist paradise.

Head of the OAS resigns

Yesterday at 5 Miguel Angel Rodriguez Secretary general of the OAS resigned. What a pitty, the press says that he recived a personal loan from a Minister that received the bribe:

"The evidence seems damning enough: Rodriguez's close friend and former housing minister, Jose Antonio Lobo, now under house arrest while cooperating with authorities, told prosecutors last week that then-president Rodriguez demanded a cut of the lucrative deal. Rodriguez claims the money was not a bribe but a personal loan, a loan that ended up in a Washington bank account held by his wife. There is no paper trail, according to Rodriguez, because it was a deal done con el pelo del bigote -- from the hair of his moustache -- a Costa Rican idiom for word of honor. "

Check the story by Marcela Sanchez of the Washington Post (registration required). Lets hope this is all a coverup of the guy in prison and Miguel Angel is innocent. I don't know him personally, but I have spoken with him a couple of times over the phone to invite him to conferences and he has always struck me as a very accesible and humble person. I have known from other people that he is a very honest and principled man. His resignation could only mean that he is a very principled man that gave out his post to defend his dignity.

Se acabó la fiesta en Venezuela (The party is over in Venezuela)

Only weeks after the national recall referendum Chavez is tightening the grip on the opposition. For those who believed in the legitimate democracy of Venezuela and its blessing by Carter and the Gaviria's OAS, how can they explain this?

Constantine Menges

I met Constantine Menges last year when I was working to organize a conference on Argentina at a joint project between Atlas and Hudson Institute. Later on he helped me put together the conference about Venezuela, and to host some visitors that came to DC to network in the area. At all times it struck me that Constantine was a very accommodating person, willing to listen to anybody with a good idea. He was humble and not infatuated by an aura of punditry, although his impressive career would have allowed him to do it. The only thing I regret was not to have befriended Constantine in a more personal way. Rest in peace, and my depest sorrows for his family. The US has lost one of the most clever experts on Latin American security issues. Check also Atlas tribute to him.

Freedom in Ecuador

In a recent discussion in a private forum with a group of friends I have been discussing why my home country is in trouble economically, even though we dollarized in 2001. My main argument is that the lack of continous reforms toward more freedom are the main reason why Ecuador is still in crisis.

Lazy Congressmen in Mexico

Thanks Eneas for this funny piece of news. A Mexican congressman affiliated with the Green party applied to participate in the newest edition of Big Brother Mexico.

Not only bad news from Venezuela

Yesterday the Devil's Excrement a Blog on Venezuela posted a note on the current legalization process of land by the planning office of the Baruta district of Caracas. The interesting thing that it's mentioned is the fact that for the first time, people is really getting land titles, not just the land, but a legal document that they can use to mortgage the property and do all sort of commercial transactions. A revolution in the pure De Soto's style to resolve the mistery of Capital. CEDICE has been also working on the issues of the informal economy and recently Wladimir Zanoni its Chief analyst on the issue was mentioned on NPR